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OB-1 vs Freebuff
Freebuff is a genuinely free, ad-supported coding agent from the Codebuff team (YC): no API key, no card, and a curated catalog of strong open models paid for by text ads between agent turns. OB-1's free path is ad-free and user-pointable — the same CLI routes to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including models running on your own machine.
Choose OB-1 when you want a free path with no advertising in your terminal and the freedom to point it at any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including local models.
Choose Freebuff when you want the simplest possible start — no key, no card, no configuration — and text ads between agent turns are a fair trade for a curated, subsidised model catalog.
| Question | OB-1 | Freebuff |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Free — no account or card for the built-in free-model router | Free — no API key and no credit card |
| How the free path is funded | No advertising; free routing goes to free or bring-your-own endpoints you control | Text ads from sponsors, shown between agent turns |
| Who picks the models | You do — OpenRouter, Groq, Gemini, a local runtime, or any custom endpoint | Freebuff curates and subsidises the catalog, with per-model session limits |
| Bring your own key | Any provider, as the primary route or a fallback | Documented for running locally installed Claude Code and Codex agents with your existing provider account |
| Local models | Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp, vLLM, custom | Not documented as a general option |
| Agent shape | Solo, Fusion best-of-N, verified escalation, read-only subagents | Coordinated specialist agents working across your project |
| Paid path | Optional prepaid hosted credits, hard-capped — you cannot wake up to surprise overages | None published; the site lists Freebuff at $0/year |
| License posture | Apache-2.0 CLI | Apache-2.0 (CodebuffAI/freebuff) |
Practical read
- Freebuff's free tier is real and unusually generous: no key, no card, and a curated set of strong open models. The trade is attention — text ads between agent turns — and a model list someone else chooses for you.
- OB-1's free path carries no advertising and is user-pointable, so it does not depend on one company's sponsor deals staying signed.
- Neither tool needs a card to start, so the honest comparison is about who selects the models and whether your terminal carries ads — not 'free versus paid'.